The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1438 ET - Utz Brands' decision to go private after being taken over by Intersnack is the right path forward, said Jefferies analysts in a research note. The firm said the $14.25 takeout price was fair as consumer stress, SNAP benefit reductions and GLP-1 adoption made a competing bid unlikely. The deal comes as a string of other food companies, such as WK Kellogg, Kellanova and Tree House have also been taken over by private companies. The analysts said the pattern signals how companies see the private route as a way to transform the business away from public-market scrutiny. (grace.yoon@wsj.com)

1412 ET - Trump's new 50% tariffs should only affect a narrow slice of Canadian forest-product exports, says TD Cowen's Sean Steuart. He says in a report that major Canadian forest products are "seemingly exempted from the annex list provided by the U.S. government," and that only a few equities will likely be exposed to potential Section 338 tariffs. Steuart says the tariffs apply mainly to paper packaging, tissue, and certain specialty engineered wood products, while major Canadian exports like softwood lumber, OSB, and market pulp are excluded. He notes that KP Tissue is the most exposed, while Cascades and West Fraser Timber are only marginally exposed to the tariffs. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1350 ET - Movement in energy prices is supporting the turnaround seen in grain futures this afternoon, says Oliver Sloup of Blue Line Futures. "I think you see strength in the energy complex; oil, heating oil, RBOB also offering support," says Sloup. Light crude is up 2.5%, to $85.28 a barrel, according to LSEG data, with Brent crude oil up 2.2%, to $91.19 a barrel. Grains like corn have been riding waves with energy prices, due to the usage of it in renewable fuels like ethanol. Most-active CBOT corn is up 0.6%, while wheat rises 0.5% and soybeans fall 0.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1336 ET -- D.R. Horton's average closing price in 2Q was $362,000, which is 30% lower than the U.S. national average for new home prices, COO Michael Murray says on a call with analysts. The $155,000 spread showcases the company's continued focus on affordability, Murray says. According to CEO Paul Romanowski, 65% of closings for the home builder's mortgage company in 2Q were to first-time home buyers. "Affordability constraints and cautious consumer sentiment continue to impact new home demand, and our operators will continue to adjust as market conditions evolve," the CEO says. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1334 ET - As demand for homebuilding softened midway through 2Q, D.R. Horton says it prioritized gross margin instead of finding ways to push unit volume, management says on a call with analysts. As such, the company trimmed its full-year home delivery forecast to protect profitability. Doing so helped get home sales gross margin to 20.7% for the quarter, the high end of the company's guidance, as stick-and-brick costs came down 5%. While the company still has significant long-term growth ambitions, it is choosing to hold margin steady for now, management says. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1301 ET - Food-delivery startup Wonder plans to use its latest round of financing to invest in a number of areas, including robotics and opening new locations, CEO Marc Lore says during an appearance on CNBC. Lore expects that with the help of robotics, Wonder's kitchens will be able to bring in nearly triple as much revenue as they do today with the same number of human employees, or about 12 to 15 people in a 2500 square foot kitchen, he says. One of the company's robots specializes in making bowl-based menu items, while another will handle just about any sauce recipe on demand, he says. Using its $650 million Series D financing round, which the company disclosed last week, Wonder will also continue to expand its footprint, Lore says. The company expects to open about 30 additional locations this year, he says.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1252 ET - Demand for restaurants is resilient even as customers face various pressures, D.A. Davidson analysts Matt Curtis and Andrew Tompkins said in a research note. A survey conducted by the analysts found that convenience and speed of service helped attract customers, while higher menu prices and personal financial pressures were the main headwinds. The firm says Texas Roadhouse, Chili's and The Cheesecake Factory are the best bang for your buck while Kura Sushi, Portillo's and Sweetgreen were perceived as more expensive. (grace.yoon@wsj.com)

1218 ET - TSX-listed stocks appear to be shrugging off President Trump's 50% tariff on a wide range of Canadian goods. As part of the tariffs, everyday consumer products like cement, hockey sticks and wine have been hit by the new duties in response to what the White House called "discriminatory treatment of American products." The tariffs will take effect in 30 days and affect about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Still, some sectors and goods such as energy, potash and fish and critical minerals, will be exempt from the new tariffs. Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 0.9% and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 is up by 0.6%. Leading the indexes are materials and mining stocks, with the tech sector not far behind. Health tech stocks and tech services were the main laggards. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1211 ET - The push of prediction market Kalshi to move into perpetual futures -- contracts with no expiration dates that are easily tradable -- looks to be extending past cryptocurrencies. The firm says that it now plans to add perps for more-traditional assets including gold, silver, and platinum. The firm says in filings with the CFTC today that such offerings have never been "offered before at this scale for retail investors," and that precious metal perps lend themselves to Kalshi's platform. "Perpetual futures have become the dominant form of derivative and a principal locus of price discovery in the markets in which they have emerged, yet that activity has historically occurred almost entirely on offshore, unregulated venues," Kalshi says in the filings. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1205 ET - Despite a strong demand environment for cybersecurity services, investors should be cautious about valuations that have outpaced business realities, Morgan Stanley analysts write in a note. Their checks indicate that demand hasn't improved as quickly as valuations, especially for on-cycle reporters including Qualys, Rapid7, and Check Point Software Technologies. "With valuations having almost doubled off the bottoms post Q1, and on-cycle names unlikely to show material inflections, we lean more cautious heading into the on-cycle prints," the analysts write. They favor cybersecurity names that can benefit from AI-driven consolidation, including CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks, the latter of which they name their new top pick in the category. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1201 ET - Now that Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure's restructuring has taken hold, National Bank of Canada analyst Patrick Kenny thinks the company is poised to move into a growing phase. "Management's attention is shifting towards offence," Kenny says, pointing to the sanctioning of its $1.2 billion Sustainable Aviation Fuel project, growing field gas throughput at Brazeau River Complex, and restarting Ram River in 2H. He figures that these together represent about C$30 a share of "unrisked valuation upside," which would more than double current valuations. National Bank upgrades the stock to outperform from sector perform with a C$25 price target, up from C$17 previously. Shares are up 6.7% to C$20.82, and are up nearly fourfold this year. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1145 ET - A severe winter storm in Chile has temporarily disrupted Lundin Mining's operations, but TD Cowen's Craig Hutchison thinks the impact should be short-lived and doesn't threaten full-year guidance. At Caserones, mining is suspended due to heavy snowfall and power issues, and Hutchison estimates roughly $12 million in Ebitda lost per week of downtime, though management had already factored weather risks into its 130,000 to 140,000 metric-ton forecast. At Candelaria, mining paused but the mill continues to run on stockpiled ore, keeping its outlook intact as well. Depending on how long access restoration takes, Hutchison thinks the storm's effects will be a neutral to slightly negative impact. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 21, 2026 14:38 ET (18:38 GMT)

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